qft. You don't gotta tell me twice, the Roots are some talented bastards if you ask me. One of the VERY FEW rap groups I have in my mp3 collection.(vanilla ice is another (lol)artist I have a few songs of... but thats more for comic reasons. :P)

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 2:36:49 AMNawkshis has a point, and it does take a lot of talent to rap well.

I of course realize this because I most certainly do NOT have this talent.

MY problem with rap is not that the flow of the lyrics is used as an instrument, but that too much relies on the asyncopated rhythm of the lyrics. If you take out the rapper, there's no song left to listen to. There's too much of it out there and it's been beaten to death musically.

What's really intriguing me now is the fusion between rock and rap. I'm not talking about awful crap like what gets played on the radio (i.e. Linkin park), I'm talking about something much more interesting from a music point of view.

What I've seen is an emerging style which is starting to fuse the rhythm and flow style of rap with a more complex style of accompanying 'rock' music. What you find is that integrating the two styles can be done, giving you the best of both worlds.

Monday, November 27, 2006 2:23:40 PMIm not talking about lyrics. Im sure their are a few rappers out their that write about half-way decent stuff. But I dont listen to music to hear what some lucky rich singer has to say, I listen to music for the music. And my biggest problem with rap, is just that... rap is such a mega-behemoth of the industry, that 90% of kids these days are never gonna hear an instrument again lol. (unless of course you count the casio 900 keyboard set to drums mode used to make the rap beat an instrument. :P )

But yea, what you said really hit home. My main style of music is metal, and just like rap, metal has really lame/bad/idiot bands that fill the radio waves/mtv. So yea, ill admit it, their are prolly a few rappers out their that dont rap about stupid teenage poo like weed and how many hoes you bang. (now if you can just get those rappers to rap with a band that uses REAL instruments (and uses them WELL) instead of digital auto-beat makers, and I might just listen to them. :P )

Monday, November 27, 2006 1:31:58 AMthank you b-hazard for at least respecting the difficulty of creating a decent hip-hop song. by the way, i accept ure challenge on making a song. check out my song "Iraqi Streets" on myspace:

www.myspace.com/nawkshis

actually everyone should check it out to realize that a thought provoking song takes time and dedication to write, and it isn't achieved by plugging in products that appeal to the general masses.

Sunday, November 26, 2006 10:40:42 PMOr if you want to continue looking like an ass you can bring up 50 Cent (which, apparently, is the only person that raps nowadays. What with how often he's brought up in these arguments) Or any of the mainstream rappers that have blessed us with their oh so simple dances (Leaning, snapping, winking, smiling, whatever the craze is this week) And writing entire albums about things they have.

Sunday, November 26, 2006 10:28:23 PMzerocyde, Did you miss the part where I said "(insert generalized statement based on what I've seen on MTV)"? Or were you helping me on my point?

I don't really feel like arguing tonight. My e-fighting isn't what it used to be. So I'll just submit and say you make a valid point. Emo (girls), Rock (drugs and girls) Country (parties, girls, getting drunk and crying about said girls that cheated on you at said parties) and no other genre can be sumed up in basic stereotypical one liners.

But I extend to you a challenge, the same I extended to someone else that basically said exactly what you just said:

Write a rap. A genuine attempt at using lyrical talent to make a song about whatever you want to whatever beat you want. Post the lyrics here and tell me where to find the beat or record it yourself for bonus points.

I'll come back in a few hours to see if rapping's as easy as it sounds. Maybe if you catch a few more episodes of TRL you can really get it down!

Sunday, November 26, 2006 12:34:28 PMyes yes. Rap sucks, (insert generalized statement based on what I've seen on MTV). That's not a matter of opinion, it's a fact, rap sucks. Nevermind the fact that rap takes just as much talent as any other type of music (though I'd never admit it) and musical taste is something that is aquired, and cannot be measured. Rap sucks.

Anyway, I liked the song. It's pretty cool when you know the original.